Artists on Art: Giving identity to natural medium

Kimberly A. Dublo, For The Telegraph

Published
7:50 pm CDT, Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Gourds have been Kimberly A. Dublo's primary canvas for the last 13 years and what she shows as the artist and owner of Special Interest Artistry. The natural canvas gives Dublo the opportunity to manipulate Mother Nature and allows her to indulge in shape and texture, she explained. Kimberly A. Dublo | For The Telegraph less

Gourds have been Kimberly A. Dublo's primary canvas for the last 13 years and what she shows as the artist and owner of Special Interest Artistry. The natural canvas gives Dublo the opportunity to manipulate ... more

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Gourds have been Kimberly A. Dublo's primary canvas for the last 13 years and what she shows as the artist and owner of Special Interest Artistry. The natural canvas gives Dublo the opportunity to manipulate Mother Nature and allows her to indulge in shape and texture, she explained. Kimberly A. Dublo | For The Telegraph less

Gourds have been Kimberly A. Dublo's primary canvas for the last 13 years and what she shows as the artist and owner of Special Interest Artistry. The natural canvas gives Dublo the opportunity to manipulate ... more

Artists on Art: Giving identity to natural medium

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Gourds have been my primary canvas for the last 13 years and what I show as the artist and owner of Special Interest Artistry. I have a private studio located in Hamburg, Ill., on the Mississippi River, where I grow and transform the fruit into fine art. I chose gourds as a canvas because of their simplicity and natural beauty, and with that they can stand alone. Each possesses a unique personality, and as an artist it is up to me to give it identity.

The natural canvas gives me the opportunity to manipulate Mother Nature and allows me to indulge in shape and texture. The creativity is endless, (being a self-taught artist promises me this). Having no prior training or schooling geared towards art in general, the constant trial and error comes into play, keeping ideas and concepts fresh. It also helps to create a style all my own.

The heart of my inspiration comes from nature and gives me a color pallet to follow. I have a great love for color, but a greater fear of using it. I’ve created a comfort zone by staying within natures guidelines and very seldom drift away from it.

I consider the physical act of creating art as the easy part of the whole process. The thought, preparation and emotion from where ideas originate is by far the hardest part and can be the most time consuming. It is not always a factor taken into consideration when asked… “How long did that take to make ?”

Being an artist is not always as glamorous a some may think. It can sometimes be that double edged sword… a blessing as well as a curse, something to escape to but cannot escape from. It’s what keeps me up at night and what gets me up in the morning. Consuming as much energy, as well as feeding it, but when I get geared up and inspiration is running rampant it’s hard to keep up with the influx and flow of thoughts and ideas.

All comes free and easy with no difficulties, there is a drive within, full of excitement and anticipation. Forced inspiration on the other hand can be a killer. It generally resides outside of myself and when welcomed in, all creativity can halt, and artwork can sit and idol for years — some pieces indefinitely.

I will be attending Staunton Art and Music Fair Saturday, Sept. 19, and Sunday, Sept. 20, in Staunton, Ill. I also am currently preparing a body of work to be represented by the David Strawn Art Gallery in Jacksonville, Ill., that will be on exhibit next March in 2016.

My work can be seen on Facebook page Special Interest Artistry — Kimberly A. Dublo.

The Telegraph will be introducing a handful of contributed columns in its Accent section that are written by people with familiar faces to many Riverbend readers. They will be writing about topics, places and experiences related to the lifestyles of many in the Riverbend and surrounding region. Standing column Artists on Art will feature a different artist each week and a “self portrait” of that artist with which they identify. If you are an artist with a point of view please contact the Telegraph’s Accent editor Jill Moon at jmoon@civitasmedia.com or 618-208-6448.